President Donald Trump could attempt to seek a third term in office, experts say, despite the constitutional rule intended to prevent anyone from becoming president more than twice.
Trump, who already attempted to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, has delighted supporters by referencing the possibility of staying in the White House past 2028.
After winning the election in November, he told House Republicans he wouldn’t be running again “unless you do something,” and made a similar quip on Monday, asking House Speaker Mike Johnson if he’s “allowed to run again.”
Just two days before that, Trump received cheers at a Las Vegas rally by saying it was the greatest honor of his life “to serve not once but twice—or three times, or four times…” He immediately followed up to say his comments were just “headlines for the fake news.”
Regardless of his intent, the 22nd Amendment would appear to prohibit any attempt at obtaining a third term as it clearly states: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” The fact that it’s so clearly a stumbling block explains why MAGA Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee is trying to change the amendment to allow Trump an easier path to seeking a third term.
“Anyone who says that obviously the 22nd Amendment will deter Trump from trying for a third term has been living on a different planet than the one I’ve been living on,” Ian Bassin, the executive director of nonprofit Protect Democracy, told Politico in a piece looking at various ways Trump could try and get a third term.
Trump could attempt to formally repeal the 22nd Amendment, but that would require overwhelming majorities in Congress and support from state legislatures which he is unlikely to get. Trump himself said as recently as April 2024 he “wouldn’t be in favor of it at all” regarding a challenge to the amendment.
But he has other options that don’t involve changing the Constitution. The 22nd Amendment only prevents someone from being “elected” to a third presidential term, not from serving for a third time.
That makes a scenario possible in which another candidate wins the Republican nomination in 2028 and then chooses Trump as their vice presidential running mate. If they win the election, the person at the top of the ticket could then immediately resign after being inaugurated—once again making Trump president.
“It would not be surprising—if the president were interested in the presidency again—that he would seek to go down this path,” Bruce Peabody, a law professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, told Politico.
There are also more extreme options. Trump could outright ignore constitutional restrictions and declare that he’s running again at the end of his second term.
Trump has already attempted to cling on to power after losing the 2020 election and granted clemency to those who took part in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. / Joseph Prezioso/Getty
Assuming the Republican National Committee wouldn’t stop Trump from seeking the GOP nomination, several states would almost certainly refuse to include him on their ballots and trigger a legal battle that would eventually come before the Supreme Court. It would then be down to the justices to rule that Trump is ineligible to seek the presidency for a third time.
“The court’s gonna tell the Republican Party that they can’t run their candidate?” Bassin told Politico. “I don’t think so.”
The high court has already ruled on an attempt to keep Trump off state ballots on constitutional grounds. In March 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that individual states can’t bar presidential candidates under a constitutional provision—part of the 14th Amendment—that stops insurrectionists from taking office. Colorado had tried to enforce the rule to kick Trump off its ballots based on his actions around the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
An even more unsettling way by which Trump could try to get a third term is to not only disregard the Constitution, but also sidestep the need to fight another election by flat-out refusing to step down at the end of his term.
Although presidents do not have the power to postpone or cancel elections, legal experts also say they don’t have the power to cut off spending for programs approved by Congress—and that didn’t prevent Trump from attempting to do exactly that with a pause on federal funding this week.
Trump has also granted clemency to his supporters who were convicted of even violent offenses during the Capitol riot. Critics fear that the action could undermine the rule of law and potentially lead to dark consequences in future.
“It sets a dangerous precedent that political violence is a legitimate tool in American democracy,” Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told the Associated Press.
